Download Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 6

Jazzhacker®
Scales and Modes
for 6-String Bass
(Standard Tuning, EADGBE)
Jeffrey Williams
SAMPLE EBOOK
Please feel free to share this 38-page sample ebook with all other
musicians and music students!
Note that the full ebooks include 196 pages, featuring 192 full-page illustrations of 16 scales and modes in all
12 keys; see Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store. Thanks for respecting the hard work of the author.
Copyright © 2004-2012 Jazzhacker Ebooks, All rights reserved
Cover photo courtesy Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG
Thanks to Rita Toews (yourebookcover.com) for implementing my cover design.
(The ISBN of the full Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 6-String Bass ebook is 978-0-9887464-3-5)
Jazzhacker Ebooks
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 6-String Bass
Jeff(rey) Williams
Table of Contents
Introduction
About the Author
The Jazzhacker Format
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes
Notes on the Fingerboard
Scales and Modes in C# (Db)
Scales and Modes in D
Scales and Modes in D# (Eb)
Scales and Modes in E
Scales and Modes in F
Scales and Modes in F# (Gb)
Scales and Modes in G
Scales and Modes in G# (Ab)
Scales and Modes in A
Scales and Modes in A# (Bb)
Scales and Modes in B
Introduction
This music practice, study, and reference guide decodes 16 of the most useful and popular scales and modes, in
all 12 keys of "Occidental" music, so it is applicable to any and all genres of "Western" music: Classical, jazz,
fusion, blues, rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, funk, reggae, Latin, rap, hip-hop, trip-hop, pop, rock, rock ‘n roll,
punk, metal, rockabilly, gospel, country, country/western - and beyond! Scales and modes are crucial building
blocks of music, and your favorite music can be found within these scales and modes.
The Jazzhacker format displays an entire fingerboard with position markers (i.e., frets, or the point of correct
intonation on fretless instruments) and note names and intervals, along with scale and mode names and
formulas, all at a glance. The big, bold, easy-to-read illustrations are perfect for use with all fretted and fretless
acoustic or electric guitars and basses. Teachers can build courses around Jazzhacker Ebooks or use them to
supplement any other teaching, and players and students can browse and explore at their own pace. Please visit
Jazzhacker.net for auxiliary study material, PDF ebooks, and info about related paper books and apps.
About the Author
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, I am a technologist and amateur bass player, living (at the
time of this writing ;) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The Jazzhacker project resulted from my efforts to
increase my own understanding of scales and modes and (strangely enough…) benefited from design skills
cultivated during my years of work as an embedded software engineer. I’m also gaining a bit of expertise in
regards to ebook and app design, production, and marketing, so if you are an author or musician developing
ideas for ebooks or apps and would like to partner with me and my crew, please contact me via Jazzhacker.net.
Best wishes in all of your musical endeavors!
PEACE
Jeff(rey) Williams
November 2012
The Jazzhacker Format
Leveraging upon the geometric design of the fingerboard of most stringed instruments, the proprietary
Jazzhacker format essentially divides the fingerboard into upper and lower halves, at the octave, and combines
the physical locations of all notes of a scale or mode with the note names and their interval values (i.e., their
harmonic distances from the root).
The scale or mode name and formula is at the top of the page; it indicates the intervals (i.e., the harmonic
distance from the root) of the chromatic notes included in the particular scale or mode. The labels (Open), (0 /
12), and 1 / 13 through 12 / 24 are position markers (i.e., frets, or the point of correct intonation on fretless
instruments) and represent open strings or frets 0 or 12, 1 or 13, 12 or 24, etc, up to 24 frets (i.e., two octaves).
A 0 fret (if present on an instrument) is equivalent to (Open), and the same notes (an octave apart) are present at
all position markers (because the notes on the fingerboard repeat starting at the octave).
The roots and their octaves are in circles (interval 1/8) and the other notes of the scale or mode are in squares,
with their intervals (2nd, flatted 3rd, 3rd, 4th, sharped 4th, 5th, etc) next to them, according to the scale or mode
formula. The notes also form patterns on the fingerboard, and these patterns will become familiar - graphically,
tactilely and audibly - as you study and practice them.
During scale or mode practice, a musician will typically play from a root to the next octave, following the
sequence indicated by the scale formula. However, a musician may want to extend this at times by playing all
the scale notes under a particular finger position, beyond the bounds of the current scale (or mode), or perhaps
shift and play the scale (or mode) beginning at another root, up to two octaves away. These practice techniques
are easily accommodated with the Jazzhacker format.
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes
This section presents a bit of music theory to set the context for scale and mode study. To explore this subject
matter further, please check out any music theory publication or website; there are lots of great ones available.
Scales and modes are derived from the 12-note chromatic scale that forms the basis of most Occidental (i.e.,
Western) music. The chromatic scale consists of 8 natural and 4 accidental notes. Accidentals occur between
some of the naturals. Any accidental may be rendered as flat (½ step lower in pitch than the next higher natural)
or as sharp (½ step higher than the next lower natural). Accidentals are thus enharmonic, e.g., a sharped 4th is
identical in pitch to a flatted 5th, a sharped 5th is identical in pitch to a flatted 6th, etc.
The 16 scales and modes decoded in this study guide are (in order): Major (Ionian Mode), Natural Minor
(Aeolian Mode), Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Harmonic Minor, Melodic (Jazz) Minor,
Lydian Flat-Seven, Whole-Tone, Diminished (Whole-Half), Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, Blues and
Blues with Major 3rd. These are among the most useful and popular scales and modes for all genres of music.
This study guide uses the symbol b to indicate flatted notes or intervals and the symbol # to indicate sharped
notes or intervals. Accidentals are rendered as flats if the scale includes a flatted 3rd and as sharps (#4 and #5
only) if the scale does not include a flatted 3rd; all other accidentals are rendered as flats. (This is merely the
personal preference of the author; as a musician, you could encounter accidentals rendered as (or described as)
sharps or flats in any context and you should be prepared to handle them.)
- Jeff(rey)
Notes on the Fingerboard
Scales and Modes in C
Scales and Modes in C# (Db)
Scales and Modes in D
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in D# (Eb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in E
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in F
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in F# (Gb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in G
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in G# (Ab)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in A
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in A# (Bb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in B
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.